Sunday, November 7, 2010

11/7: College Football Wrap, etc.

Greetings all... First, let's touch on the day that was in college football...

TCU annihilates Utah 47-7... This is a shock to me... not that TCU won b/c I thought they were legit... but this was on the road against a top-5 team, granted Utah isn't your typical opponent, but they are a real live good college football team... I'm beyond impressed by the TCU defense (tops in the country right now), and Andy Dalton was flawless... The argument for TCU over Boise? Better conference in the MWC over the WAC, and this, on paper at least, is the best win that either team has at the moment (with respect to Virginia Tech)...

Speaking of Boise... 42-7 drubbing over Hawaii... sounds ho-hum right?... Well, first of all, Hawaii was the 26th ranked team in the country (aka #1 in "others receiving votes"), and isn't a doormat... now that we know that... check out these numbers... 737 yards of total offense for Boise, 507 yards passing from Kellen Moore... wow right?... Then think about this, Hawaii was held to 196 total yards, their lowest yardage total in TWELVE years, after coming into the game with an offensive profile only comparable to Auburn and Oregon... so... the case for Boise? Virginia Tech is looking better every day, the WAC is underrated this year (Hawaii is decent, Nevada is good), and they are racking up historic numbers... but please don't give me "well, Boise beat TCU last year!"... because that's meaningless... it's 2010... not 2009...

LSU ends the dream for Alabama... Les Miles dialed up a 4th and 1 REVERSE call (hilarious) that worked to the tune of a 23-yard gain that led to the game-winning TD... always a pleasure to watch Les operate... anyway, the argument about the Alabama-Auburn winner being a BCS title game lock is now negligible in the case of an Alabama win there, and the only SEC chance is Auburn since I can't LSU can't win the SEC unless Auburn loses twice... I was in the "I'd pick Alabama over everyone on neutral field" camp, but if you can't beat LSU... good night...

Oregon won by 37... Auburn won by 38... What do we take from this?... well... nothing... other than Cam Newton and Lamichael James are the only 2 heisman candidates right now... that's the list...

Nebraska goes to OT with Iowa State... conference road games are never a lock, especially with NEB playing without Taylor Martinez, but they needed an INT on the 2-point conversion in overtime to sneak away... I don't mind the call to go for 2 for ISU.... what do you have to lose there? But in the end, Nebraska is looking like the most likely 1-loss BCS title game participant if it comes to that... and I actually think they'll run through the Big 12 unscathed, but would they pass TCU and Boise? Definitely not the "lock" (IMO) that Alabama would've been had they run through it, but it'll be interesting...

Oklahoma State puts Baylor away... Baylor was a nice story... but 55-28 qualifies as being exposed... and suddenly, Oklahoma State is a 1-loss team with 2 potential "landmark" games left on their schedule with OU and a big 12 title game matchup against Nebraska... just saying...

Speaking of Oklahoma... Their ultra-faint national title hopes were trounced on Saturday in a road loss to Texas A&M... by 2 touchdowns no less... this team has really played one good game all season (Florida State) and generally hasn't impressed me, and yet they are still in decent shape in the Big 12 south with Baylor and OK State still on the schedule... if I was Nebraska? I'd be rooting for them to run the table because, like it or not, beating Oklahoma in the Big 12 title game brings more cache than beating OK State...

Iowa and Wisconsin both struggled early (and often) in their Big 10 road games... but both emerged victorious, and it's still a 4-team race for the Big 10 crown...

Stanford beats up on Arizona... This one shocked me a little because I'm high on Arizona, but the Cardinal put up 42 points and were dominant from the jump... Andrew Luck was great (23/32 for 293 and 2 TDs) and they continue to roll...

Arkansas/South Carolina - Well, Florida is back in the SEC East driver's seat... Arkansas put on a show in Columbia behind Ryan Mallett, and were able to hold Marcus Lattimore to 30 yards and 11 carries and make Stephen Garcia beat them... he couldn't....

Michigan 67, Illinois 65 - That's the correct score... no typos here... I don't even know what to say... 132 points, 1,227 yards of total offense including 676 for Michigan... This is undisputedly the worst defensive unit I've ever seen at Michigan, but it may the best (and it's definitely the most explosive) offense I've ever seen either... really a weird mix... Denard was electric (305 passing, 62 rushing) before giving way to injury, yet again, in the 4th quarter and Tate Forcier relieved him to the tune of 2 TDs and a win... Roy Roundtree also broke the Michigan record for receiving yards in a game... at the same school that produced Desmond Howard, Anthony Carter, and Braylon Edwards among others....Greg Robinson should be fired on the spot.. yes, right now... but he won't be... that's not the "Michigan way", but with a bowl game looking likely, I'd like to see him fired the second the Ohio State game ends so they can use bowl practice to install a new DC... I could go for days here... let's stop...

THE PICKS! (22-23-1 Entering)

Baylor +7.5... Loss! (whoops)

Northwestern +6.... loss!

Oklahoma -3... Loss!

Illinois +3... Best scenario possible... win the pick, and win the game... lol...

Yikes... Another 1-3 day...

Elsewhere...

A horse named Zenyatta lost an important race... I have no comment b/c Horse Racing died in this country a long, long time ago... strong enough?...

The Bobcats' Stephen Jackson was fined $50,000 for verbal abuse of officials... that seems... like alot?... obviously, I have no idea what he said... but it must've been strong...

NBA Box Score Check - Houston is 0-5... read that again.. they've run the gauntlet (@LAL, Denver, NO, @SA) but wow... and Aaron Brooks put up 18 points in 17 minutes before giving way to an ankle injury... that'd be a huge loss... Dwyane Wade had his best game of the young season (29 and 10 boards) in Miami's win over NJ... New Orleans moves to an impressive 6-0 after a road win in Milwaukee behind West (25 points) and CP3... and the Clippers and Jazz played an epic 2OT game... Blake Griffin (16 and 17) was impressive as usual, but Utah got a win they sorely needed behind Deron Williams and his 30, 8, and 7 line, and Paul Millsap lighting it up with 25 and 13...

That'll do it... if you missed it, check out the NFL Week 9 Preview... enjoy the Sunday slate...